Manage your subscription

German naturalists defend Red Army’s legacy

By
TARYN TORO in
BERLIN

Battle is about to commence between naturalists, generals and politicians
in Germany over the fate of a former Soviet tank range. Although large swathes
of Doeberitz Heath have been left blasted or scattered with small stands
of stunted trees, the Red Army inadvertently created a treasure trove of
biological diversity there. Endangered cranes, geese and birds are among
the wildlife that thrives alongside the tank ranges.

Doeberitz Heath, 30 kilometres west of Berlin and measuring 47 square
kilometres, has been the exclusive preserve of the military since 1740.
Before the Soviets, soldiers of the Prussian and Nazi armies marched,
fired guns or drove tanks there. Ironically, the withdrawal of the Soviet
occupants last year has left the heath threatened. Less than an hour away
by car from central Berlin, Doeberitz is ripe for exploitation by property
developers.

Local naturalists have taken initial steps to defend the heath by taking
an inventory of its plant and animal life. The cataloguing has already unearthed
some surprises.

For example, naturalists employed by the Brandenburg state authorities
found a summer crab (Branchypus stagnalis) that lives in the stagnant water
which fills the large ditches that have been left by churning tank treads.
In another study, Horst Korge of Berlin’s Technical University and his students
became the first to sight three types of spider in this part of Europe.
Zelotes villicus, Zora armillata and Thanatus vulgaris are species that
are usually found in the fenlands of Sweden and Britain.

Advertisement

The heath is home to the hoopoe, Upupa epops, a bird more at home in
Africa and southern Europe than in northern Germany. The hoopoe and another
visitor, the black crane, Ciconia nigra, are on the endangered list in northern
Europe.

Thomas Schoknecht, a naturalist from Brandenburg’s environmental authority,
says the ideal solution is to convert the heath into a nature preserve.
However, Brandenburg, like Germany’s other eastern states, is short of money.
Schoknecht says it is unlikely that the state can afford to prevent the
heath from being trampled upon by tourists. ‘It’s too expensive to fence
the whole place in and police it properly,’ he says.

Restricting only certain areas is also a problem, says Werner Shulze,
an ornithologist who used to sneak onto Doeberitz to watch birds while the
Soviet troops were still shooting. ‘If you protect the areas where the cranes
nest, but fail to main-tain the fields where they feed properly, the birds
will notsurvive,’ he says.

Schulze and Schoknecht agree that an interim solution for Doeberitz
would be to allow the German army to continue manoeuvres on the heath under
the supervision of naturalists. That way, the army would assume thefinancial
burden of restricting access, and naturalists could continue their research.
The voice of conservationists, however, may exert only a limited influence
in the forthcoming war of words. Legally, the heath comes under the jurisdiction
of Germany’s federal finance and defence ministries, and it is officials
there, rather than naturalists, who will ultimately decide the fate of Doeberitz.